Then why do straight men respond to cute women? An aversion to cute, feminine cars is especially odd, given the "manly man" tendency to "feminize" their ideal cars, as if they're analogs of sexually-desirable females?

"An aversion to cute, feminine cars is especially odd, given the "manly man" tendency to "feminize" their ideal cars"

A manly man wants to look manly in his manly car, not cute.

Men call machines "she" for a few reasons, simple tradition among them. While wanting to look manly in their manly machine, they also do not want to speak of a fond relationship with another man, hence the feminine pronoun. It's a cognitive dissonance hetero men can live with.

A pretty girl would look even prettier in that cute Austin-Healey. Hell, it has big round eyes and a cute smile already.

A man, well, not so much. If you're looking for logic, hetero males and their machines aren't going to get no satisfaction.

Loved the Austin-Healeys, but always wanted a Karmann Gia, a real chick car. I had a male friend with an A-H and another with a Nash Metro and remember them more fondly than those with Porsches and 'Vettes.

Fred4Pres: No, today it would be the leading man's buddy, the one whose shoulder the leading lady uses. Back in the day of the A-H, the car would have been the leading man, but possibly in a playboy kind of way.

"Then why do straight men respond to cute women? An aversion to cute, feminine cars is especially odd, given the "manly man" tendency to "feminize" their ideal cars, as if they're analogs of sexually-desirable females?"

I think people see a car as their own shell, more like what they will wear than what they will be having as a companion. We wear our cars, perhaps. So, the woman is looking at that car and thinking "I'd look good in that," and the man is thinking "I need to be in something that looks more masculine."

"A teal cute convertable. Yes, I can see why women would like it. Most men are going to be drawn to other colors than teal. I suspect if it was cherry red or dark blue, guys might like it more."

I object to calling that color "teal." Teal is much harsher color. I'd call that aqua or turquoise.

That's not a true Austin-Healey. Its grille is much more smiley-face than the original design, and its entire front end has been made rounder and therefore more feminine. The color completes the transgendering of a classic design.

Austin Healeys had one weak spot. A fraternity brother had one in the 50s. They have an aluminum body and, if someone sits on the fender, it never looks the same. That color probably turns the men off. Most of A-Hs I saw were silver. I have a feeling that is not an original.

That car was THE hot car in the late 50s, early 60s. My favorite color scheme was metallic gun-metal blue viz the teal with the same white/creme "insert." Only REAL problem was that your feet were right up against an all too thin fire-wall and one needed asbestos boots to drive the damn thing for any length of time beyond going around the corner to the 7-11 for milk. LOL

When I was in high school and college I lusted after one of these. I considered them the classic roadster. Clean, simple curves with perfect proportions, I'd still love to have one. The Sprite and MGs were too small. I tried to drive a Sprite once and couldn't operate the pedals due to my knees hitting the bottom of the dash. Sprites were for short people.

My first Healey was a 1958 100-6, yellow and black. We called it the bumblebee. The second was a 1963 3000, red and black. AH had a lot of color choices, and the two-tones worked well with the sculptured look of the car.

They were fun to drive, quick for the day, and sounded amazing. They also leaked oil, got the carburation easily out of adjustment, had chronic electrical and fuel pump issues, scraped mufflers and tailpipes all over the place and leaked in the rain.

No matter. The females loved them and often got confused and thought they loved you too.

From the grill, that's the Austin-Healey 100, which makes it somewhere between 55 and 58 years old not 60, edutcher).

I think the 3000 Mark III, which had essentially the profile, was perhaps the best-looking British sports car all time. But the downside of the big Healeys was their low ground clearance -- I don't know anyone who ever owned one that didn't hang it up somewhere.

I agree with those who say that the color is the reason for the difference. BTW, I love A-Hs. The first sports car I ever rode in was a 56 A-H. It was British racing green. Oh, and it was in 1956--I was nine years old.

It is indeed a real Austin Healey 100. With the 4 cylinder engine it is more of a looker than a goer. The men would be more interested in the 6 cylinder A-H 3000, a picture which Chris S linked to in his comment.

It is a real Austin Healey, but the color is all wrong and they have the windscreen laying down funny. That being said, even a 90 hp engine will make a car as light as the 100 move quick enough.

I have a 1966 Austin Healey 3000. I bought the car (used) in 1968 after I got out of the Army. Sometime in the early 2000's I restored the car. I have some pictures of the car, hopefully, some day I'll figure out how to present my projects to everyone on the internets.

I had a red AH 100-6. It was a real pussy wagon. The most fun car I ever had, though it was a pain to snap the side windows in and out.

It would be a great car to have here in Texas, where we haven't had rain for 9 months. I drove mine in Chicago, but the winter salt on the roads accelerated the electrolytic corrosion where the steel quarter panels met up with the aluminum trunk (boot) lid. The heat from the straight-6 was so powerful that I could drive hundreds of miles at 5 degF in winter with the top down.

Still, with all the corrosion and degradation of the fabric top, I have to say that all that fine pussy has aged faster than my fine Austin Healey.

I'll go with Virgil Xenophon. My favorite color for any of the Healeys, whether the 100 or the later Big Healeys was a silver or white panel insert and the grey blue on top.

I took at look at your picture and thought "that's all wrong". That sort of color scheme and that sort of color belongs on a 56 Chevy or a Corvette--not on a Healey.

Aside from the fact that Healeys would rust like mad in bad weather, had a hotbox for your feet, electrics by the Prince of Darkness, finicky carburetors and steered just like a truck at low speeds--there was nothing much not to like about them.

I had a '66 3000 MkIII (BJ8) as my college car from 1974 to 1977. I bought it from an older gentleman down the street from our house - I had cut his grass for years and I essentially returned all his money to him - who had bought it new.

While the car didn't help me get dates, I can assure you that in the mid-70's at the University of Virginia, my car was very well appreciated by the young ladies of the time. When it ran.

Ann, you're right! As a teenage bride I was starry-eyed and knew nothing about men or cars. My new husband had already owned a TR3 and an older Porsche in the years before we met. We were poor and I was still in school but he was determined to sign us up for an expensive sportscar. He favored another Porsche. I didn't like the look of those (then). I liked the Austin Healey and figured if we had to get one, it might as well be one whose look I found appealing. We got the 100 which was a pain with it's windows but fun nonetheless. After a couple of years we upgraded to a 3000 which was the rare original color of Golden Sand. It had rollup windows... a real luxury. It was also a pain to maintain, but he loved that car. Me? Oh, did I mention I didn't know how to drive it? Yeah, there I was working long shifts at a job I hated, to pay for the man to look cool in his fancy car. Later, when I tried learning to drive a stick on a "normal" car, I realized that our Healey had the touchiest clutch ever. Btw, I later became devoted to the stick shift and liked nothing better than a good car on a mountain road. (Good, not fancy!) My take on our Healeys was that they were fun but expensive toys.

I admire young people who make good choices in life from the getgo. Experience is a fool's school and I spent a long time there.